


Give Me Fire, Give Me Fire

by Arrestzelle



Category: The Evil Within (Video Game)
Genre: Intimacy, Kissing in the Rain, M/M, Naked Cuddling, Secret Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-14
Updated: 2018-03-14
Packaged: 2019-03-31 05:52:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,990
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13968741
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Arrestzelle/pseuds/Arrestzelle
Summary: Joseph wants something from Sebastian; Sebastian wants something from Joseph.





	Give Me Fire, Give Me Fire

**Author's Note:**

> It felt great writing for them again after three years. Looking back at my old Joseb fics, I cringed a lot (save for the fic where Seb bottoms; I like that one hehehe), so I hope this came out better than the others!! I really love their complex relationship. Sometime I do want to write something more in-depth.

There he stands, under the fall of the rain. Trees surround him in a shroud, though they don't protect him. No, he chooses to not _let_ them protect him. The rainwater stains his beige trench coat a darker shade of brown. His long hair is clinging to his forehead and neck with water. The rain is dripping off his nose and jaw—down from his eyelashes, descending across stubbly cheeks. It looks like he's crying, Joseph thinks distantly as he calmly paces out towards him, clutching a black umbrella in a gloved hand. His dress shoes are noisy in the shallow puddles of rainwater.

It earns Sebastian's piercing gaze. Sebastian grants him a nod of greeting. Then he fishes out his cigarette pack, though upon inspection, he realizes it's soaked through. Stepping up to his side, Joseph balances the umbrella between them, to at least give Sebastian a reprieve he didn't ask for; rain beats down on his left shoulder as a reward for his efforts.

“The rain is doing you a favor,” Joseph murmurs, watching the other man crush the pack with a heaved sigh and muttered curse. Sebastian grunts.

“Yeah, whatever. I'll just buy another pack later. Doesn't make a difference.”

Joseph presses his lips together, but doesn't say anything more.

Silence hangs between them, broken only by the pattering of the rain and loud rustling of the leaves of the trees surrounding them, disturbed by the wind. Sebastian fixes his cold, golden gaze on his partner again. Joseph arches a brow at him, calmly.

“Why do you even come here?” Sebastian says, a sourness hidden in the shadows of his gruff voice, “You know I come here for...”

He trails off, unsure. He squares his jaw and looks away. Joseph speaks up, saying confidently, “For an escape.”

Sebastian shrugs.

“It's a peaceful place to smoke. I don't like to be trapped in my own damn home, waiting for nothing.”

Joseph nods.

“I understand.”

Silence, for maybe thirty seconds.

“I come here for an outlet,” Joseph begins, earning a curious glance from the corner of Sebastian's eye. Joseph stares out towards the scenery of the park, at the vibrant green of the grass and trees; there is no one around, though that is to be expected. Rain falls heavily in sporadic patterns. Even with a clear sky, Sebastian purposefully comes to the side of the park no one ventures to.

Sebastian stares at him wordlessly for a moment, and then nods, dropping his gaze to the wet gravel under their feet. Joseph switches the handle of the umbrella to his left hand—with his right hand, he strips off his black glove and then reaches out to take Sebastian's hand. Sebastian is silent and motionless beside him, though Joseph catches the subtle glance towards him through golden eyes. Joseph boldly watches his face as he threads their fingers together. Sebastian's fingers are broad, stiff, and cold. Sebastian isn't smiling, though his eyes are no longer bitter; they're even a little kind. He looks at Joseph with a faint furrow in his brow, his lips in a line. His nose and cheeks are bitten red.

“You really need to find a new outlet,” he says flatly, which has the faintest look of amusement blooming on Joseph's face.

“This is the only one that has proven to be effective,” Joseph remarks, squeezing Sebastian's fingers between his. That draws a weak perk of a smile out of Sebastian, which in turn has Joseph's insides blooming from festering emptiness to something warm and giddy. He stares at the subtle smile, feeling this certain firework sensation in his chest.

Without another word, Joseph, encouraged by those fireworks, leans in. With the umbrella shielding them from the world, Joseph kisses the other man with an angling of his head and a gentle, careful press of his lips to Sebastian's.

Sebastian's lips are dry, but hot. Despite standing under the rain for maybe ten minutes, they're warm. Joseph can feel the scratch of his stubble against his chin and lower cheek. Sebastian's other hand withdraws from the pocket of his coat to slide around the back of Joseph's neck, broad fingers lost within raven black locks. He cradles the back of his head as he begins to gently, cautiously kiss him back.

An explosion of fire flickers to life in the pit of Joseph's insides, completely eradicating that lingering darkness. That fire licks up to his face, sending a roaring heat into his cheeks, his ears. His heart feels weightless in his ribcage. His hand is locked tight around Sebastian's, his thin lips loving and tender against his. Their kiss is slow and passionate, an intimate back and forth mashing of their lips. Joseph slowly turns his head to adjust the angle, drawing out a deeper kiss from Sebastian.

The feeling of Sebastian's developing beard brushing across his jaw and cheek is like strikes of lighting flickering through his skin. His lips are now soft and wet from the kiss, moving so easily and so willingly against Joseph's. Joseph has to stop when Sebastian strokes his thumb along the back of his hand—it's such an intimate gesture, one more intense than the kiss itself, and it has his heart seizing. He pulls back with a stuttering inhale and immediately reaches up to adjust his glasses. He realizes Sebastian's nose left a smudge on the lens.

A warm, firm mouth presses a kiss against his temple, then right against his cheekbone. Joseph closes his eyes and leans into Sebastian without realizing. Sebastian slides his hand from Joseph's hair, stroking down along the column of his throat; his callouses scratching across his pale skin has Joseph shuddering. Sebastian draws his arm around him and pulls him close against himself. Joseph presses his forehead to his broad shoulder, against soaked fabric. The umbrella is balanced unsteadily between them, gripped by Joseph's gloved hand.

“Let's get you to a fire,” Joseph murmurs, spoken between their bodies, hidden like a secret.

 

* * *

 

Another world suddenly surrounds Joseph's house. A world unlike the one they're accustomed to: a world where everything that occurs within will not have occurred in the other. They're free to say what they will, do what they want. The facades, the illusions that everything is how it should be are all stripped away. No suffocating layer of lies and secrets that shrouds everyday life.

An outlet for the both of them.

In the foyer of Joseph's home, they remove their soaked shoes. Joseph shakes out his umbrella, hangs it, removes his other glove. Sebastian stands there helplessly, holding a dripping trench coat, which Joseph takes with a faint, very faint smile gracing his face. He leads Sebastian to the laundry room, where he deposits the coat into his dryer.

There, standing with Sebastian who resembles a drowned cat, Joseph says as he grabs blankets from a nearby shelf, “Undress, and put your clothing in the dryer. I'm going to put on the fire.”

 

Like he promised, Sebastian emerges to find Joseph kneeling at the fireplace, stoking the flickering embers of a newborn fire. Sebastian paces out with only a light sheet draped around himself—he snatched it from Joseph's shelf in the laundry room, made up of nicely folded sheets and blankets. It clings to parts of him with rainwater.

“I had to improvise,” Sebastian states when Joseph trains his gaze on him. Joseph eyes him up and down, nods, turns back to the fire. On the floor, there is a layer of three blankets strewn across the carpet—a fourth is folded and laying atop them, waiting to be used. Sebastian continues to stand there, until Joseph is satisfied with the state of the fire. It flickers brilliantly. Joseph gets up, still dressed in his uniform, and approaches the light switch to flick it down. Suddenly, Sebastian is bathed in a warm glow; the dancing fire casts long shadows over his handsome face.

As he returns to the center of the living room where Sebastian waits, Joseph removes his underarm gun holster, sets it aside on one of the arm chairs. His badge shines in the light of the fire. Joseph's eyes are intense and unmoving, fixed on Sebastian. He unbuttons his vest, unravels his tie. He pauses when Sebastian steps closer. Letting the sheet fall to his feet, Sebastian reaches up with both hands to slip off Joseph's vest. Panning his gaze up along Sebastian's body to meet his eyes, Joseph lets him remove his vest, followed by his red tie. The pieces of clothing end up draped over his gun holster.

Hooking his fingers into Joseph's belt, Sebastian tugs him forward. Stumbling closer, Joseph's hands jerk up to grab onto Sebastian's bare biceps. Sebastian chuckles as he begins unbuckling his belt. Joseph huffs, but doesn't complain. He watches, cheeks warm, while Sebastian undoes his belt, followed by the button of his slacks.

“I'll take care of it,” Joseph says quietly, eyes downcast to Sebastian's broad fingers pausing on his zipper—Sebastian nods and lets him go. Joseph steps out of his slacks and black briefs, soon followed by the unbuttoning of his white undershirt; meanwhile, Sebastian takes a lazy seat on the layers of blankets, unashamed in his nudity. Those articles of Joseph's clothing are set aside, and then he's stepping up to join Sebastian atop the blankets. He kneels beside him, and hesitates for only a moment, meeting Sebastian's unusually warm eyes.

The world they're in strips away the ingrained shame, pride, limitations, boundaries. A faint smile is on Sebastian's face, a face lacking the typical exhaustion, the layers of self-preservation, and _bitterness._

Joseph moves to sit in Sebastian's lap, to which Sebastian accommodates by adjusting his legs, drawing an arm around the small of Joseph's back, broad hand curling around his bare side. Joseph brings his arm around Sebastian's neck, slender hand resting flatly across a shoulder. He leans in to kiss Sebastian's forehead, which earns a chuckle.

No words are said. They sit together, skin to skin, silent, bathing in the warmth of the fire. Sebastian then slowly tips back, until they both meet the blankets—Joseph jerks in surprise as they fall, which earns another laugh. Their legs end up tangled. Joseph's head is against his shoulder, black locks haphazard and splayed across Sebastian's skin.

Sebastian reaches out to stroke the back of his fingers up and down against Joseph's belly, against fine, dark hair and pale skin. Joseph stares at the fire, and then down at Sebastian's nude body.

“Nothing has to happen,” Joseph says, “We can simply lay here.”

“I think I prefer that,” Sebastian murmurs. He's stroking his hand up over Joseph's front, across his chest, along his throat, to cup that hand around his jaw, fingers pressing into his cheeks. Sebastian draws back enough to meet his gaze. Joseph looks at him calmly. The warmth that shows in Sebastian's eyes soothes him. A tender smile blossoms on Sebastian's scarred lips. Joseph stares, watching with a racing heart, as the other man leans in. Angling his head, the other man kisses him. Sebastian's lips are still hot.

Eyes rolling shut, Joseph lets the warm, tender kiss carry him away. The sounds of their lips overlapping together is joined by the crackling of the fire and the beating of the rain against the roof. The hand on his jaw is relentless, refusing to let him move out of the kiss, though his grip is gentle. Joseph doesn't want to move away. He wants to move closer.

When it comes to an end, only due to their lack of breath, Sebastian pulls away to search in Joseph's eyes. Joseph gazes at him with a weakness, a vulnerability in his typically stony expression. His eyes are soft, his cheeks flushed, lips wet and slightly open. Admiring that look on his face, Sebastian smiles again and murmurs, breathlessly, “Now, I'm warm.”

**Author's Note:**

> I really don't know what this is, but I imagine it as something like Joseph uses this as an "outlet" to express his feelings for Sebastian, whatever "this" is. Maybe they just somehow started this peculiar arrangement where they have comfort sex for the sake of their mental health. Sebastian is torn apart by loneliness due to his family's absence and enjoys the intimacy, and Joseph is torn apart by his typical suffering and his inability to have Sebastian beyond the comfort sex. So, this thing happened. I literally just wanted to write Joseb so I began writing without an idea in mind.
> 
> arrestzelle.tumblr.com


End file.
